Improvement in elastic seams for garments



HELEN AQBLANCHABDL' i Elastic Seam for (armentsa- No. 162,019.PatentedApri|13,.|875.

PATENT GEETOE.

HELEN A. BLANCHARD, OE BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVEMENT IN ELASTIC SEAMS FOR GARMENTS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 162,019, dated April13, 1875; applicaiion lrd March 11, 1875.

To all whom fit may concern:

Be it known that I, HELEN A. BLANCHARD, of Boston, Massachusetts, haveinvented an Improvement in Elastic Seams for Garments, of which thefollowing is a specification:

Lock-stitch machine-sewing upon goods which have a give to them, havenot hitherto been a success for the better qualities of Work, because ofthe lack of elasticity of the stitch; for instance, knit goods, and, toa great extent, custom-made pantaloons, are mostly seWed by hand,because, hitherto, lock-stitch machinesewing has not been elasticenough.

I have invented a method of sewing the saine with a lock-stitch machine,giving an elastic stitch of equal strength with the coininon stitch, andthe following description sets forth the means of making the stitch, andthe necessary arrangementof the sewing-machine in the work.

This stitch can be sewed on any of the ordinary lock-stiichsewing-machines by a slight manipulation of the tension Ito suit thematerial worked on, and an alteration of the needle, as will beexplained.

The stitch itself is constructed With one elastic thread, preferably ofrubber, in combination with any ordinary thread. This arrangementfurnishes the requisite degree of elasticity to the completed stitch.

The rubber thread is best applied from the shuttle, in which case amoderate tension is desirable. If, however, the rubber thread is fed bythe needle, the eye of the needle must be somewhat enlarged, and made tobulge outward toward the center, to assume an elliptical form, and theedges must be rounded, to prevent the cutting of the rubber thread Whileunder tension. I have also used a needle having a square eye withperfect success.

In the drawings, Figures 2 and 3 are perspective views of elasticfabrics stitched in the manner described, the shuttle-thread c being ofrubber, and the other thread b of any ordinary librous material tocorrespond with the Work sewed on. Fig. lis a perspective view of amodification of the elastic stitch, more properly an elastic binding,the rubber thread a being fed by hand, and overstitched by an ordinaryoverseaining machine. Fig. 4 is a perspective viewofthe elastic stitchwhen set by the Overstitch machine, the rubber Ythread a being fed fromthe shuttle.

This drawing more particularly shows the adaptation of the stitch inbinding the edge of materials which are elastic, or possess give, or areparticularly liable to ravel or fray, makin g, substantially, a selvageedge to the fabric.

The rubber thread, besides furnishing the requisite degree ofelasticity, rendering machine lock-stitching applicable to any elasticmaterial, Will not draw, owing to its peculiar resilient nature, whenused as a cord in binding, or when fed from the shuttle of an overstitchmachine, but will give sufflr-.iently to accommodate the stitch to theline of strain which, in various textile fabrics -of loose Weaving, asalso in knit goods, is of great importance. In certain instances, when agreat degree of elasticity is necessary, each thread may be of rubber,the needle as Well as the shuttle thread, but the instances of such usewould be exceptional.

I claim and desire to secure yl)5L-I.Gllters l2.- ent of the UnitedStates- The elastic seam, having one thread of rubber and the other ofordinary sewing thread, substantially as described.

HELEN A. BLANQHMAED.

JOHN BIGELOW, F. F. RAYMOND.

